A day following the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s mass slaughter of a healthy herd of ostriches in Edgewood, B.C., I interviewed supporters of Universal Ostrich Farms who were still reeling for the traumatic event.

While the CFIA claims their method of herding the fast-running birds into a kill pen and having hired marksmen elevated and metres away, repeatedly open fire at the flock was “appropriate and humane,” the supporters describe the event as anything but.

Just days ago, although seized by the state, the prehistoric creatures were healthy and asymptomatic since a sickness passed through their herd late last year.

The CFIA declared the entire flock must die due to its “stamping out” policy for avian flu.

After a lengthy legal battle, pleas from the U.S. government to preserve the flock and the scientific research the farm was involved in, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the farm's appeal, and the CFIA moved in for the kill.

“Those are my babies. They’re my babies!” screamed co-farm owner Karen Espersen as the marksmen shot down what she referred to as “pretty birds.”

Both the farm and its supporters are devastated by the loss, but all agree that the battle to push the CFIA to change its policy has only just begun.

Help Rebel News continue its reporting on the Ostrich massacre!

For months, our team has been on the ground at Universal Ostrich Farms, documenting every step of this tragedy — from the first ominous signs of federal overreach to the night nearly a thousand shots rang out, leaving a field of hundreds of dead ostriches and a family shattered.

Our journalists confronted the RCMP, pressed CFIA officials, launched drones to reveal the truth, and refused to be intimidated or silenced.

But holding powerful institutions to account takes resources: travel, security, legal access, and the manpower of an around-the-clock reporting team.

If you believe in independent journalism that asks the tough questions the establishment won’t touch, please chip in to help us keep digging.

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